The juices spilled over her mandibles as she devoured it in a few quick, desperate gulps.
The moment it hit her system, Marzette's entire body bulged as the Fruit of Might's power coursed through her.
"Ah… aaaghh!" she cried, clutching her head as a searing pain forced her mind to see.
The world spun as new sensations overwhelmed her. Sight, hearing, tasting, feeling, even smelling. None of them were able to compare to the sheer enormity of the senses she was awakening.
She could feel... energy itself. The energy of the world. The energy of people. Of foe and friend. Of animal and plant. Of... everything and everyone.
Knox's scorching, chaotic Ki raged like a wildfire in the distance, while the Saiyan's energy screamed with an inescapable malice, as if he wanted to swallow the world whole.
Then the pain really started.
Her chitinous flesh cracked and reformed, her muscles bulging as dormant energy fought to twist her biology into something... better.
Sharp, unbearable pain jolted through her shoulders, and she dropped lower in the air, barely keeping herself aloft. She twisted in mid-air, rolling as she felt something snap and push outward behind her, splitting her exoskeleton. The armor she wore resisted, but she instinctively pushed with all of her might, and the armor gave in.
'Am I... evolving? Is this all it took...? Just a bit of power?!'
Her mind raced in panic until she steadied herself, tilting her head to see two sets of wings unfurling from her back. They gleamed faintly in the light, large and shaped like those of a winged ant.
Understanding came to her in an instant.
'It's not a full evolution. Of course...'
Her body was going through a semi-evolution; something tailored more to her specifically than her species. It was a result of a lifetime of training her speed, flight, agility, and razor-sharp control.
Only after this power boost did her body finally have the energy to accommodate her.
She gave her new appendages an experimental flap, and the response was immediate. She surged forward like a whip-crack, cutting through the air far faster than she'd ever moved before.
'Finally! Everything I've worked for...'
She twisted through the air, cutting a precise path toward the space pirates like a streak of black lightning.
"I'll finish this as quickly as possible," she hissed, her voice unnervingly calm as she descended on the first of them.
The technique she'd been struggling with came to life with ease now that she had the energy reserves to use it. Her left hand glowed fainty, her Ki solidifying into a sharp, glass-like blade.
The red pirate's expression twisted from resolve to panic, but by the time he realized, it was too late.
Her Ki blade cleaved through his defenses, slicing an arm off with a pained cry. With another motion, the tip of the blade pierced him through the eyes.
"It works," Marzette observed coldly.
Her wings beat rapidly, precise movements allowing her to weave around Ki blasts similarly to the zigzag motions Knox loved.
"Who is this?!" One of the disgusting purple ones screamed. Its twin screamed something in response, but she didn't bother listening.
They'd be dead soon, anyway.
Appearing to the side of the pirate, she lashed out, her speed so blinding that her opponent flinched in confusion. By the time his eyes could follow her movements, slashes had already carved through his armor.
She pivoted mid-air, spinning to his twin's back and finishing him off with a clean, arcing strike down his shoulder, slicing him in half.
Blood splattered on her, but she simply burned it off with her Ki.
The last member turned to run, clearly grasping how outmatched he was. With a single beat of her wings, she was instantly in front of him, her vibrating Ki blade shimmering in the light.
"For what it's worth, I take no pleasure in this," she said flatly before striking him down without mercy.
A single, precise swing that sent his head flying off his body.
"Orders are orders, after all."
Hovering over the now-defeated Crusher Corps, Marzette flicked her hand to extinguish her Ki. The glowing blade dissolved into harmless wisps, leaving no trace of their devastating effect.
A surge of pride welled within her. This was the kind of strength she had always dreamed of claiming. Not raw power like Knox liked to throw around.
But power emboldened by efficient, precise control.
Knox gave her a glance now that the barrage of attacks wasn't bothering him. When he saw all of the pirates dead, he let out a wild laugh. "Good shit, Marzette! That's what I'm talking about!"
His gritty grin shone even as his energy beam buckled under Turles's ferocious onslaught.
Marzette shot toward him, her wings a sleek blur slicing through the sky. Within seconds, she hovered just behind Knox, only slightly winded from her brief encounter with the rest of the pirates.
Knox grunted as he pushed against Turles's overwhelming energy, his arms straining under the pressure.
If Marzette could smirk, she would. "Mind if I join in?"
Knox barked out an almost manic laugh, the vein on his forehead throbbing as he held his ground. "God, I love my life. Hell yes, let's do this shit!"
Marzette hovered beside Knox, her hands crackling with Ki as she began charging an attack of her own.
She focused inward for a moment, observing the nature of her own energy in comparison with Knox's. Her new ability to sense Ki allowed her to synchronize with Knox's, the 'wavelength' of her Ki beginning to overlap with his.
"I've got it." She whispered.
Marzette released her charge. Her energy, while still not as potent as Knox's merged seamlessly with his beam. The two assaults spiraled together like twin strands of DNA, amplifying their combined strength.
Knox couldn't help but glance sideways at her. The pride and admiration in his eyes were unmistakable as he yelled over the roar of their combined energy. "Got a name for that attack?"
"Nope! I'm just making yours stronger!" She yelled over the noise.
"That's fine by me!" Knox barked with a wide grin. Then he focused on the Saiyan, his face twisting into a feral snarl. "NOW DIE!"
Together, the fused attack grew to incredible size and brightness, twisting and writhing when charged with both their spirits. It roared forward, barreling toward a now-frantic Turles who desperately tried to reinforce his crumbling attack.
"I ...CAN NOT.... LOSE HERE!!"
The Saiyan's effort was valiant, his roar deafening as he poured every scrap of power into holding his beam steady.
But against the weight of Knox and Marzette's combined forces, he stood no chance.
The clash raged for a moment longer before Knox and Marzette's attack tore through Turles's, consuming his energy wave in an explosion of light. The shockwave shattered the battlefield below and sending Turles hurtling backward, his scorched body disappearing into the distance.
__________
Knox hovered over the shattered battlefield, panting heavily as his arms trembled at his sides. He descended slowly, his boots crunching against the ground as he dropped to one knee, trying to steady his ragged breathing.
"That…" he muttered with a raspy chuckle. "That took way too much outta me."
Marzette landed gracefully nearby. Her gaze, however, remained fixed on the horizon where Turles had been sent flying.
"So..." He said, glancing at her new wings. "You managed to evolve? Besides the wings, you don't look much different."
"I'm not sure he's dead," she said flatly. "And no, it wasn't a full evolution. Just the wings."
'Of course he isn't dead. I would've gotten a notification if that was the case.'
"Oh, I know he's alive," He took a deep breath, pushing himself to his feet. "But... he shouldn't be able to move much after that."
"True. Then let's go finish the job." She didn't wait for his response, immediately taking off toward the direction Turles had disappeared to, her wings humming lightly.
Knox groaned, rolling his neck as he lifted into the air to follow her. "Can't just give me five seconds? Ugh, I wanna take a nap. And I'm kinda hungry. And..."
The pair flew across the ravaged terrain in relative silence, scanning the ground below. It didn't take long to locate Turles. His body lay crumpled in the massive trench their blast had carved through the earth, his armor cracked and charred.
Knox and Marzette landed beside him, both observing him closely, though with very different expressions. Marzette seemed to radiate indifference, while Knox looked down at him with a small amount of disappointment.
If Turles were smart, this fight could've gone completely in his favor various times. Knox was mainly disappointed in the waste of potential that Turles was.
The Saiyan turned his head weakly, one bloodshot eye glaring faintly at Knox.
For a moment, he just sat there struggling to breathe. But eventually, he spoke, his hoarse voice barely audible.
"If I… harbored... more evil… could I have won?"
Knox lazily blinked, unimpressed with the question. "No."
Turles didn't seem surprised, his body trembling as he let out a weak laugh, one filled with bitterness. "I… see… A low-class Saiyan… will always be… a low-class Saiyan, huh?"
Knox frowned, crouching down beside him. His gaze was steady, calm, but carried a sharpness that demanded attention.
"No," he said firmly. "That ain't the reason either. I know of a low-class Saiyan who's a million times stronger than you."
'Or he will be, anyway.'
Turles' eyes slowly widened, his mouth trembling as he spoke. "You're... lying! That's... impossible-"
"I'm gonna be honest. I don't know what the hell you've been yapping about this whole time, but it made me realize something," Knox cut in before Turles could start pitying himself again. "All of it has been completely nonsensical. This whole thing about 'evil' this or 'good' that? None of that shit matters."
Turles's eye narrowed slightly, a flicker of confusion breaking through his pain.
Knox continued, standing to his full height. "If someone's in front of me and needs help, I'll help 'em. If someone gets in my way… I'll crush 'em. Simple as that. The only thing I care about…" He paused, shaking his head. "The only thing that matters in this world is power. All that other crap is meaningless if it can be wiped away by someone stronger than you."
Turles stared up at him, stunned into silence.
His mouth opened as if to argue, but no words came. Instead, his eyes darkened for a moment before softening, and the abyss-like malice that had consumed him earlier seemed to fade.
His voice was weak yet oddly at peace. "I see... I must've looked... so foolish..."
His breathing slowed, his gaze becoming unfocused as his other hand weakly twitched and rose. A faint glow emerged in his palm, flickering erratically like a dying ember. Slowly, the white energy began to slowly solidify into a sphere.
"B-burst open and--!"
Knox didn't let him finish.
In an instant, he raised his hand, the air around Turles rippling faintly as an invisible force clamped down on the Saiyan's chest. A split-second later, a sickening squelch echoed as his heart was crushed from within.
Turles's body convulsed once before going limp, the glow in his hand flickering out.
Knox exhaled slowly, his expression flat. "No, no… it's a bit too late for that," he muttered, shaking his head.